Author: 公子于歌 / Gong Zi Yu Ge

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Note: This is not part of the novel Your Rival in Love Gets Prettier Every Day but from the author’s other work, <Don’t Be Coquettish>. I have decided to translate the parts that are related only to <When You’re Older>, the movie adapted from this story in which Shen Jintai acts in, because I really like the story. You know the synopsis, and you know how it ends, so prepare for dog abuse if you continue reading.

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A lifetime is not enough. I want to love you for a few more lifetimes.

Chapter 1

Luo Wensheng disappeared. When he went out in the morning, everything was fine, except it was rare for the two to hug, but as soon as he left, he never came back. He was getting older. His legs and feet were already inconvenient, and he was also suffering from illnesses. With his old age, Yu Nuo was afraid that Luo Wensheng would encounter an accident, so he asked everyone to help search for him. Still, despite searching every possible location, no traces could be found.

Ultimately, Yu Nuo called the police, who told him that, based on their experience, Luo Wensheng probably ran away from home.

“Who is he to you?” The policeman asked.

Yu Nuo said, “My lover.”

The policeman was stunned, obviously surprised by their age difference.

Yu Nuo said, “I have an immortality disease.”

Realization then dawned on the policeman. Immortality disease was an odd disease. There have been more than a dozen cases across the country. People who suffer from this disease will suddenly stop growing old, freezing at the age at which they first contract it. Doctors could not find a reasonable explanation and could not treat it. Many who hope to be young, and immortal have spent an insurmountable amount of money to contract it, but to no avail.

When Yu Nuo was diagnosed with this disease, he had been with Luo Wensheng for three years. At that time, their affection was strong, so naturally they were reluctant to separate. More than forty years had passed, and they were both now sixty-seven years old. Though their ages were nearly the same, one was a man who looked like he was in his sixties, while the other maintained the youthful appearance of someone in their twenties. He had jet black hair, rosy lips, and a perfect row of white teeth. No matter how he dressed, he couldn’t deceive the eyes of others, as his eyes were clear and his skin was firm and fair.

Truthfully, in the past few years, the relationship between the two has not been as close as before. Occasionally, when they looked at each other, Luo Wensheng would unconsciously turn his head, showing hints of embarrassment on his face.

When they were out, outsiders would always think they were grandfather and grandson.

Luo Wensheng was a teacher. His hair had turned gray early, and he had suffered from an illness the year before as he began to forget things. Despite his strong physique that he had maintained since he was young, the illness was so pervasive that it bent his straight back. However, he was stubborn and had picked up all the household chores, refusing to let Yu Nuo do a single thing house related. After retirement, he would get up every morning to do morning exercises. He even set alarms on his phone to remind him to take his medication so he would not miss a single pill. He said he would stay with Yu Nuo for at least another 20 years, and he planned to do so.

On the morning of his disappearance, he had swept away the fallen leaves on their porch early in the morning, then went out and bought him pickled cabbage, steamed stuffed buns, and sweet soybean milk. Such a person left without saying a word.

Yu Nuo had searched all over the country, and after looking for over half a month, he finally found Luo Wensheng’s hometown. Luo Wensheng owned a house here, which was about to be demolished. The house was unfit for an elderly person to live in because it was so depilated. Yu Nuo had peered in through the window, wondering if he should try to open the door, when he saw Luo Wensheng falling to the ground, crashing through a broken glass window.

Yu Nuo kicked open the window and jumped in, his movement slightly mechanical, as he shouted, “Luo Wensheng!”

He helped Luo Wensheng, who lay still and motionless. His lips were dry and chapped. Yu Nuo trembled as he touched Luo Wensheng’s wrinkled face, which was as warm as the tears he was shedding.

Luo Wensheng opened his eyes when he heard the sounds, and when he did, he laughed loudly, showing off the crevices of the wrinkles on his smiling face. “Did I trick you?”

Yu Nuo was extremely angry and put him down. Luo Wensheng let out an “ouch” as he hit the ground, causing Yu Nuo to quickly help him up again. “You deserve it, pretending to be dead.”

The old house was very cold, and when Yu Nuo saw that he didn’t look well, he helped him pack his luggage and led him back. Yu Nuo didn’t speak along the way, which was inconsistent with his style. Luo Wensheng had expected his reaction to be much more intense than this.

He asked, “Are you angry?”

Yu Nuo drove with a cold face as Luo Wensheng continued, “I did ask you to practice in advance so that one day, when I do really die suddenly, you won’t be as uncomfortable when that day comes. So practice more.”

Yu Nuo suddenly stepped on the brakes when he heard Luo Wensheng’s words, veered the car to the side of the road, and broke down in tears. Being sad was also not in line with Yu Nuo’s style, and it made Luo Wensheng regret seeing such a sight.

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Chapter 2

Luo Wensheng was still insistent and kept pretending to be dead every three to five times a week. When Yu Nuo came back from work, he often saw him in his act. He strongly suspected that Luo Wensheng was influenced by a Japanese drama he saw. He had once swiped Weibo and seen a Japanese show called “Every Day When I Go Home, I See My Wife Pretending to be Dead”. He showed it to Luo Wensheng, thinking it was a funny video, but he didn’t expect Luo Wensheng to follow suit.

The problem was that the Japanese drama was a comedy, but their family was a tragicomedy. While the death was fake, it was still mixed with a bit of truth, foreshadowing the inevitable future.

He looked at Luo Wensheng, who had fallen to the ground and was lying dead. The act was so well done that he truly looked as if he were really dead. Even though Yu Nuo knew he was pretending, he still got worried every time he saw it. It seemed that one day, when he returned home, this would be a reality for him.

He felt pain in his heart, but he had to pretend to be impatient and kick Luo Wensheng as he said, “Get up quickly.”

Luo Wensheng got up when he heard Yu Nuo, wiped off the fake blood on his head, and said, “Doesn’t look right this time?”

Yu Nuo behaved very calmly and said, “It’s boring.”

Luo Wensheng had been lying in that position for a while, so his body was stiff. He limped to the bathroom to clean up as Yu Nuo took a mop to clean the floors, trying to hold back his tears and keep a wooden face.

He sometimes wonders why he is doing this. Maybe it was because he wanted to love for a little longer. Luo Wensheng was paranoid, and so was he.

Luo Wensheng had been in the bathroom for a long time and hadn’t come out. Yu Nuo was starting to worry, so he went in to take a look, only to find Luo Wensheng’s thin and rickety body sitting in the bathroom with eyes that were red.

Yu Nuo bent over and picked up the shower head on the ground, turned off the hot water, and said, “Get up and dry off.”

Luo Wensheng couldn’t get up. He had slipped in the bathroom, fallen on his waist, and become incapacitated. He must have fallen when he just got in, as the hot water had scalded his entire leg.

Yu Nuo took him to the hospital and stayed with him for half a month, taking care of his eating and drinking needs. He knew that his fate with Luo Wensheng was nearing its end, and he wanted to do more for him, but Luo Wensheng showed great resistance. Even though he knew that Luo Wensheng would not listen to him, he still said, “We’re an old husband and wife and I still love you.”

Luo Wensheng responded, “I hate myself.”

Yu Nuo hung his head, packed his things, and prepared to take him home from the hospital. Not long after his discharge, when Yu Nuo returned home one day, he found that Luo Wensheng was not at home.

The home that they had lived in for decades had a sense of homeliness, a breath of life that permeated every corner of the house, but when he returned that day, he felt the house was cold and desolate.

Luo Wensheng vanished once more, this time permanently, after leaving him a letter.

[I still can’t accept aging in front of you, and I don’t want you to watch me die.]

After saying so much, Yu Nuo knew that he could not be convinced, but he still couldn’t easily let go and was able to catch Luo Wensheng, who was about to get on the train at the station.

Luo Wensheng put his arms around his waist and said tremblingly, “Why are you doing this? Didn’t I make it clear in my letter.”

Yu Nuo said, “I’ll let you go. Just let me take a good look at you at the end, and I’ll let you go.” When he got old, Luo Wensheng resisted taking pictures, so he didn’t have a single picture of him at home.

The two looked at each other. Yu Nuo took in the other person’s face, which was now old and wrinkled. His eyes were glistening, just like when they first met in high school. He discovered that it wasn’t that his eyes were bright, but that it was because of the tears that were welling. They flowed down, bathing the wrinkles on his face, and for the first time, he had cried in front of Yu Nuo.

Unable to bear it, he said, “I’m leaving now.” Luo Wensheng stiffened his waist and got into the train with his suitcase.

Immortality is not always a good thing. An immortal should not love. Yu Nuo had sent away his relatives, his parents, and now his lover. All the ones he loves will eventually leave him.

When Yu Nuo returned home, he sat on the balcony looking at the setting sun as he put on “Gentle Wind and Rain” on his phone. This is a song that Luo Wensheng especially liked when he was young. It was originally sung by Terasa Teng, and Faye Wong later covered it.

“The breeze blows over the clouds,
The drizzle slowly falls down the earth.
Drenching me and drenching you,
Makes the world poetic.
The breeze, accompanied by the drizzle,
Like I am with the lovely you.
Looking at me and looking at you,
See how beautiful the world is.
Ahhhh~ may I be the wind and you the rain,
Ahhhh~ the breeze in all the drizzle.”

For a long time, Yu Nuo sat there, clinging to his knees, as the music played in the background.

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Chapter 3

Yu Nuo spent ten years alone before he finally found Luo Wensheng in a nursing home. By then, Luo Wensheng was already suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and was in a severe state where he was always drooling and unable to speak clearly. The medical staff in the sanatorium didn’t bother to take care of such an elderly man who had no relatives, so he had sores all over his body.

Yu Nuo squatted down in front of him. The smell of the old permeated as he called out to him, “Luo Wensheng.”

“It’s me, Yu Nuo.”

Luo Wensheng was thin and haggard. He opened his soulless eyes to look at the speaker. By now, he was almost 80 years old.

Yu Nuo held his hands, which used to be so strong and slender when they were young but now look like withered branches. Still, it was warm, full of the heat of life. He took Luo Wensheng back to his home, the home they had lived in together for decades. It was now facing demolition. All the furniture in the house retained its exact appearance right before Luo Wensheng left, but Luo Wensheng no longer recognized it.

But now they were together again. Yu Nuo had quit his job to concentrate on taking care of Luo Wensheng. He bathed him, and they would bask in the sun together. The weather was perfect as the two sat on the balcony together to watch the sunset as they listened to “Gentle Wind and Rain”.

“The breeze accompanied by the drizzle, like I am with the lovely you.”

It transported Yu Nuo back to their high-school days. It was the first time they met. He was gnawing on a steam bun while running to school in a panic, his backpack flopping wildly on his back. When he turned the corner, he was knocked to the ground by someone on his bike who didn’t have time to stop. He hurt his arms, and he dropped the steam bun. When he got up, he saw Luo Wensheng extending out his arm to help him up. The seventeen-year-old Luo Wensheng was youthful like sunshine, and his eyes were bright.

On the day Luo Wensheng died, he suddenly woke up. That morning, he was asleep in a haze when he felt someone patting him. He opened his eyes and saw Luo Wensheng with tears in his eyes. Luo Wensheng had become clearheaded, but he couldn’t speak clearly, only saying, “Nuo, Nuo.”

His trembling lips and brown eyes were covered with a layer of mist.

Yu Nuo knew that the day had arrived. He climbed into Luo Wensheng’s arms, smelling his body fragrance, the same mint-flavored smell as his shower gel. When Luo Wensheng was young, he loved being clean, and this was the smell he had for decades.

Luo Wensheng hugged him tightly as they lay there in silence. Suddenly, Luo Wensheng gasped violently, as if he couldn’t breathe. Yu Nuo grabbed his clothes, but he didn’t dare look at him as he cried, “Luo Wensheng, Luo Wensheng.”

Luo Wensheng died in extreme discomfort, and Yu Nuo had died with him.

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Chapter 4

Yu Nuo has the body of an immortal. He passed his days year after year, seeing the world around him change day by day. Many years later, the changes were dramatic. After conforming to international trends, same-sex marriage was finally legal in his country. On the day it became legal, many domestic comrades rushed to get married. He sat on the flower bed outside the Civil Affairs Bureau for most of the days, watching them go in and out happily while holding a red book* in their hands.

*It’s real estate certificate that can be freely bought and sold. It’s basically the title to a piece of real estate.

He still remembered that when he and Luo Wensheng were together, Luo Wensheng would often say that he didn’t know when gays could get married in their country, and he didn’t know if it would happen in his lifetime, but he wouldn’t care. Even if he was 70, 80, or however old they were, as long as his legs and feet could walk, the two of them would go together and get registered. They would be a real husband and wife, one that was recognized by the law.

Now, that dream was possible, but Luo Wensheng was no longer there. For Yu Nuo, it was always too late.

To avoid rumors and turmoil, the state issued a new ID card for Yu Nuo, who has now changed his name to Yu Sheng. With this new identity, he met new colleagues at work, and once, after dinner, he talked about what the future would look like.

Yu Sheng said, “In the future, there will be flying cars, but people’s environments will return to the past, and the rural areas will develop better than cities. There are few jobs that exist for humans, and everyone becomes more indifferent. When you go to the supermarket, all you see are robots that are working, and everything can be delivered. You don’t even need to see or interact with people for months, which can lead to a boring life. But the positive is that time travel has become a reality. Many people travel to the past, to live in a time of the past, and meet those who they will never be able to see again.”  

His colleagues knew that he had a lover who had passed away, and when they heard him say these things, they comforted him, “Maybe in the future, we can really travel through time and space. Who knows, just like decades ago, who would have thought that you can pay, call, and make recordings with just your phone.”

Yu Sheng held his wine glass, staying silent.

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Chapter 5

After Luo Wensheng died, he lived alone for many, many years. With the death of each generation, his name was changed several times. It had eventually progressed to the point where science and technology could make time travel a reality.

Anyone could use this technology to transfer their soul into any era in which they have lived in the past. As long as you had the money, you could utilize this technology.

After living for so long, Yu Nuo had saved up a lot of money. He packed up his home, closed the door, and immediately went to sign up.

His approval came shortly after. The staff told him that there are many rules that must be observed, such as not interfering with the past and following the original history trajectory. Of course, not everything must be exactly the same. Small deviations were negligible, but bigger life choices cannot be altered; otherwise, they would interfere with the past and affect the you the present era, and the cost would be immeasurable.

“Our current crossing technology is still immature, so it’s difficult to come back after going back in time. This also means that when you cross into the past, you have to start from that time period and live in that period all over again.”

Out of all the participants, Yu Nuo was the calmest. He nodded whenever they said anything. Unlike others who participated in this project and were hesitant while they considered their gains and losses, he seemed to be used to it.

As an orphan, his parents have been long gone, and those familial feelings have long eroded. When he was a child, he wasn’t happy living at his uncle’s house. When asked what time period he would most like to return to, he naturally chose the year he met Luo Wensheng.

Luo Wensheng was like his lifeline. Nothing was more valuable than spending half of his life savings to relive the moments between meeting Luo Wensheng and when he vanished.

He laid down in an enclosed capsule and saw the staff working through the glass. When the countdown clock sounded, he closed his eyes.

Three, two, one.

It was like a dream. With intense discomfort and pain, his soul and body seemed to have separated. His eyes remained close as tears moistened around them. After the long darkness passed, he only felt a bright light shining in front of him. At the age of 16, he was standing in front of a steam bun shop. The boss said, “Boy, what’s the matter with you? Here’s your steam bun.”

Yu Nuo hurriedly took it. On the cold winter day, all that came out was white steam from the bun that warmed his frozen hands. He took a bite, then ran towards the school quickly, but he didn’t run to the school. He was running to meet Luo Wensheng again.

He ran through one familiar street after another. A flock of pigeons flew from above a building as the streets began filling with students in twos and threes running anxiously towards the school, wearing the uniform that he was most familiar with.

This was it. This was the crosswalk.

He was so excited that tears were about to gush out, and he leaped forward with great difficulty. Immediately, he was knocked to the ground by a bicycle.

His arm was sore, and he dropped the bun in his hand. When he got up, he saw a hand stretched towards him. Because his eyes were filled with tears, he seemed to be unable to see clearly. He just saw a person standing vaguely in front of him and asked, “Classmate, are you okay?”

It was the 17-year-old Luo Wensheng, who was as youthful as the sun and had bright eyes. This was the fourth time in his life that he had seen this image.

What a terrible, self-abusive obsession. It was like drinking heavily poisoned wine to temporarily relieve his thirst. Yu Nuo knew the final ending. After Luo Wensheng disappeared, he followed the trajectory of the previous few times to find him and then took him home, watching him pretend to be dead before he finally really died in his arms.

Note: The campus era in the novel is not written in detail, so the following jumps directly to Luo Wensheng’s old age.

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Chapter 6

Yu Nuo looked at Luo Wensheng, who had fallen to the ground and was lying dead. His act was so realistic that if he hadn’t known better, it really looked as if he was dead. He knew that one day, when he returned home in the future and saw Luo Wensheng like this, it wouldn’t be just “pretend” but “reality”.

Yu Nuo pursed his lips. His eyes were bitter but resolute. He pretended to kick impatiently and said, “Get up quickly.”

Luo Wensheng got up when he heard the sound, wiped off the blood on his head, smiled, and said, “How does it look this time?”

Yu Nuo said, “It’s boring.”

It stood to reason that with a person’s life so long, especially his, he shouldn’t be able to remember what he said or did, but every action remained vivid in his memories. The fact is, there was no need for him to follow history in these exact details, and a small deviation won’t affect anything, but he seemed as if he were acting in a movie, carrying out his own lines and walking his own steps according to the script.

Luo Wensheng got up and went to the bathroom to wash off the blood stains on his body, but he didn’t come out for a long time. Yu Nuo knew that he had fallen and couldn’t get up in the bathroom as the hot water was scalding his thighs. When he would go in, he would see the same scene he had seen many times already; a helpless old Luo Wensheng.

The hot water was scalding, but it wasn’t what burned him. It was Luo Wensheng.

What is he doing?

He had been through so many reincarnations. He asked himself, why? Was it because he was stubborn, paranoid, or morbid that he was constantly chasing Luo Wensheng, who insisted on maintaining his dignity?

In the end, he had gained nothing but an urn of ashes.

If the ending was destined, would the process of getting there still be meaningful?

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Chapter 7

After Luo Wensheng died in his arms and his funeral had been arranged, Yu Nuo sat alone on the balcony, basking in the sun while listening to “Gentle Wind and Rain”, like a zombie. He was too tired to fall in love. With every death of Luo Wensehng, he also died inside. All he could do was use the decades of time to store his remaining energy before he could meet Luo Wensheng again.

Life was long, and there was more time for pain than happiness.

Was it really worth it? Yu Nuo slumped in his chair as he looked towards the sunset that bathed the sky in dying light.

He wanted the cycle to end. There are so many in this world, and he wasn’t ugly. It was easy to find another. It was a new era, one in which same-sex marriage was now as common as heterosexual marriages, and people’s views had improved. Even blind dating has now become popular among same-sex couples.

He uploaded his profile at a marriage agency and kept himself busy while trying to think that he wasn’t betraying Luo Wensheng. It wasn’t betrayal; he wanted to set them both free.

Within two days, someone from the marriage agency contacted him and said that they had helped him find several blind dates. If he was willing, one could be arranged for Wednesday. He agreed to it and went shopping. He hadn’t dressed well for so long that his life was a bit decadent. He bought new clothes and got a haircut. When he looked in the mirror, it was still the same young image that he had so long ago.

Luo Wensheng was now a skeleton, but he still maintained his youth.

Yu Nuo changed into his new outfit, stood in front of the full-length mirror, buttoned the top of his neckline, and went to the appointed place. He chose to walk instead of taking a taxi and sweated a lot along the way.

It seems that when you give yourself time, it opens more opportunities for you to repent. With every step he took, he felt regret creeping up. After walking for a while, he paused his movements. As he was dealing with his entangled feelings, he stopped at a crosswalk where he saw a pair of young boys, in their 20s, walking past him with arms hooked around their shoulders, like friends and lovers. The tall boy was very similar in height and size to seventeen-year-old Luo Wensheng.

Seeing the scene, he felt like dying inside. He continued walking and stopped in front of the place they agreed to meet. The other party called and asked, “Are you here yet?”

“Almost there.”

“I’m wearing a black jacket. There’s no one in the shop now, so you’ll find me easily when you come in.” The voice on the other line was gentle.

“Ok.”

He was standing on the corner. He only needed to take a few more steps and turn the corner, and he’d be there. From the glass window, he could see the man that he was going to meet on his blind date. This was the first step in his life. He could usher in a new relationship, and from now on, he didn’t have to go back to Luo Wensheng over and over again. He knew that as long as he was willing to open up, he could fall in love a second time. He may very well meet a man who was handsomer, had a better temper, and could fuck him better than Luo Wensheng, and he may love this man more than Luo Wensheng.

Luo Wensheng had become a thing of the past.

Yu Nuo’s heartbeat was pounding so badly that he couldn’t tell what was going on. He felt as if he was cheating. But Luo Wensheng is dead, and this was only him trying to move on and accept a new relationship. How ridiculous for him to feel that he was “cheating”.

He smoked two cigarettes on the corner of the street and called the other party. “I’m sorry. Something suddenly came up and I can’t meet anymore.”

The other party had a very good temper and didn’t get angry. He said, “That’s a pity. I read your profile, and I like you quite a bit.”

Yu Nuo hung up the phone and began to walk back. He felt he had betrayed Luo Wensheng when he tried to take one step forward and saw the face of his blind date.

How ridiculous. Why was he like this? He cried as he walked and then quickly ran away. He was like a moth to a flame. In this modern society, there was no other person like him.

As he ran, he felt as if he had returned to the year when he was sixteen years old, running fast to greet Luo Wensheng, who was riding his bike. He wanted another chance. If he persisted alone, perhaps in ten, twenty, or even a hundred years from now, medicine would overcome this difficulty. Perhaps there would be a cure to his immortality, and he’d be able to grow old with Luo Wensheng again, and they could die together.

As long as he didn’t give up, there was always hope.

If he simply gave up now and didn’t persist, wouldn’t this be equivalent to him giving up his love for Luo Wensheng?

Luo Wensheng could have found a normal person to be with. He had paid for himself all his life and suffered so much. A normal person can only love for so many decades. He had received this love from Luo Wensheng, and he should be satisfied. Thinking this, he found the courage to live alone for decades, waiting for that day.

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Chapter 8

Yu Nuo lived for another twenty years on his own. Science, technology, and medicine were still developing rapidly, but the problem he wanted to solve hasn’t been solved. Instead, he had fallen ill and almost died from it. As someone who never grows old, he was still able to die.

Due to his diseases, he had to change jobs every few years and cities every decade. It wasn’t that he was afraid of being discovered, but he didn’t want to be regarded as some kind of alien. He no longer contacted his friends of the past, and after a long while, they stopped contacting him. It was better this way. He had experienced too many life-and-death partings.

He went to register himself for an infusion. Modern science and technology had advanced to the point that he hadn’t been to a hospital for many years. Many processes are different from before. While he may have had the body of a young man, he had an old soul. He felt that he was out of touch with society, and it was difficult to adapt.

After returning from the hospital, he slept at home for a day. He laid on his bed alone, in the dark room with only a little light that was exposed from the window. At this moment, he suddenly wanted someone to accompany him. It didn’t matter if it was someone he loved or not; just anyone would do. If someone was here, he didn’t have to be afraid when he was ill or dying.

He could find someone, but if the other person wasn’t serious, would the other party really take care of him in his time of need? On the other hand, if the other person really did love him, wouldn’t this turn into another Luo Wensheng situation?

He really shouldn’t have lived for so long. He should have died before time travel was discovered. Now that the technology existed, he was reluctant to die. While he could continue to travel back in time and relive the happy days with Luo Wensheng, he began to have more expectations for technology and medical care, looking forward to maybe one day being able to accompany Luo Wensheng in life and death.

But his patience was limited, and the technology may not come before he dies. If that’s so, then what would be the meaning of all these repeated lifetimes and hundreds of years of persistence? For him, whether it was bitter or sweet, it was his own choice. The blame was all on him, but what about Luo Wensheng?

If it weren’t for him, Luo Wensheng might have met an ordinary person and lived a happy and ordinary life. On the contrary, thinking about it this way, what he was doing was harming Luo Wensheng.

If Luo Wensheng didn’t meet him, he might be happier. They had been together for decades, and he could say that Luo Wensheng had been unhappy for about half of that time. There was the pain of coming out of the closet and the suffering when he reached old age. He was tortured physically and mentally, and he died without having a son or a daughter.

When Yu Nuo recovered from his illness, he went to Luo Wensheng’s cemetery and sat in front of his tomb for an entire day. The next day, he went to the Time and Space Travel Bureau and received his approval shortly after. The staff told him again about the rules that must be observed, such as not interfering with the past, and following the original historical trajectory…

“Otherwise, it will interfere with the past and affect the you in the present era. The cost is immeasurable. You may disappear, and your memory will be wiped along with it.”

Unlike the previous few times, Yu Nuo, who usually remains calm throughout the whole process, had an abnormal expression, as if he couldn’t sit still during the introduction phase.

As he laid down in the capsule, he saw the staff working outside. The countdown clock sounded, and he took in a few deep breaths. When the staff saw that he was acting abnormal, they asked, “Sir, do you want to terminate?”

Yu Nuo shook his head and closed his eyes.

Three, two, one.

With intense discomfort and pain, his soul and body were separated again. After the long darkness passed, he heard a strange voice say, “Boy, what’s the matter with you? Here’s your steam bun.”

At the age of 16, he was standing in front of a steam bun shop. The owner of the shop looked at him suspiciously and asked, “Are you okay?”

Yu Nuo shook his head and took the hot bun from the owner’s hand. On the cold winter day, all that came out was white steam from the bun that warmed his frozen hands. He took a bite and began to turn his head to run towards the school.

No matter where you are in my life, I will find you.

There was probably nothing happier in the world than running into one’s lover’s arms.

In less than a minute, he would be reunited with the seventeen-year-old Luo Wensheng.

He ran through one familiar street after another. A flock of pigeons flew from above a building as the streets began filling with students in twos and threes running anxiously towards the school. All these were scenes he was most familiar with.

This was it. This was the crosswalk.

He was so excited that tears would gush out. To get acquainted with Luo Wensheng, he only needed to leap forward quickly.

Luo Wensheng would stretch out his hand and ask him, “Classmate, are you okay?” His eyes were bright, and his voice was crisp.

It seemed that a long life was floating in his mind the whole time: the life they lived together, the cum they shot, the saliva they exchanged, the tears and blood they shed, and the most painful and helpless convulsions and suffocation experienced when Luo Wensheng died in his arms.

Luo Wensheng, Luo Wensheng.

Yu Nuo pursed his lips tightly and took a step forward. The jingling of the bike rang as he saw the 17-year-old Luo Wensheng flying past him.

What was the point? It seemed that the past few hundred years had suddenly become meaningless. He didn’t know what he was doing.

Yu Nuo’s face was distorted; he lowered his head and cried, and the seventeen-year-old Luo Wensheng glanced back at him, thinking what had happened to this student to make him cry so sadly.

Everything has changed. From then on, Luo Wensheng no longer knew Yu Nuo. They never met and never fell in love. In this world, there was no longer a Yu Nuo who traveled through time and space for Luo Wensheng. The memories of their past disappeared.

The bell rang, signifying the end of the school day. Groups of students began to walk out the gate. Spring was coming. On the road outside the school, cherry blossoms were scattered all around. Yu Nuo was walking home with his backpack on his back when he suddenly heard the crisp sound of bells, jingling, jingling.

He stopped on the side of the road as Luo Wensheng rode past him on his bike.

He patted his shoulder and continued walking away as if he were carried by the wind. Fine falling petals fluttered in the air and brushed against the 16-year-old Yu Nuo’s face.

He didn’t look up as he kept on walking.

My entire love for you is to give you an ordinary life.

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Kinky Thoughts:

GOD I’M CRYING. WHY DID I TRANSLATE THIS?! I must be as self-abusive as Yu Nuo.

I was hoping for some more dog food like they had in high school or middle school, but NOPE! Just all fucking dog abuse. Well, I hope you enjoyed it. I’m now sobbing, like all those who saw the movie.

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